Stay Connected

When Ryan Reynolds brings his 2½-year-old daughter James to work with him, he knows exactly where she’ll head to first on set: the craft service table.

“My daughter’s like a dime-store thug on set,” he jokes to PEOPLE. “She’ll open her jacket and there’s like a hundred Tootsie Rolls inside.”

The actor — who also has a 10-month-old daughter, Inez, with wife Blake Lively — recently brought his kids to the set of his latest film The Hitman’s Bodyguard and admits juggling dad duty and his career can be a bit of a balancing act.

“I like having my kids at work,” says Reynolds, 40. “But you wanna walk that line because a lot of other crew members would love to have their kids at work, too. You want them around, but you don’t want to feel like you’re imposing them on set.”

RELATED VIDEO: Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively on the Joys of Parenthood

Reynolds — who previously told PEOPLE, “If I could have nine daughters I would be thrilled” — says he loves being a dad even if it means not getting much sleep.

“My kids, fortunately they have both of our genes. They have my wife‘s ability to just stay up all hours,” he says of Lively, 29. “Yet they also have my genes, which is to wake up no matter what at 5 a.m.”

Reynolds also credits his Hitman’s Bodyguard costar Samuel L. Jackson as the reason he makes sure to have plenty of family photos on display at his house. After a visit to Jackson’s home, the Deadpool star says he was struck by the personal decor.

“He had all these great photos of his life on a table,” Reynolds recalls. “I said, ‘I never think to do this.’ He said, ‘Why not? It’s your f—ing life, man!’ It stayed with me, and now I have photos of my kids and my wife all over our house.”

For more on Ryan Reynolds, pick up the latest issue ofPEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.